Chapter 56: Harsh government is fiercer than a tiger
The village chief was stunned when asked.
When a normal person hears a ghost haunting him, shouldn't he leave immediately? Why are these people not only not afraid, but they even ask about the ghost with great interest?
Is it possible that they want to have a relationship with demons and ghosts?
The village chief finally suppressed this ridiculous idea.
After thinking about it, he told the truth: "We don't know the identity of the leading demon. We only know that it calls itself a tiger, says that the mountain is its private property, and it also maintains a group of rent-collecting ghosts.
, responsible for collecting rent from various villages in the mountains."
Zhu Xiucai whispered in Qin Shaoyou's ear and introduced in a low voice: "Generally, those who use the name tiger are mostly tiger monsters. Of course, sometimes other monsters, such as fox monsters, etc., also like to boast that they are tigers to scare others."
Qin Shaoyou nodded slightly and couldn't help but think: "The fox demon boasts of being a tiger to scare others? Is this the origin of the fox's pretense of being a tiger?"
At the same time, he asked: "Village chief, what are you talking about about collecting rent? Then the demon wants you to donate money and food? And I remember you just said that today is the day when the ghost comes to collect big rent. This rent
Is there any difference in size?”
The village chief said with a bitter look on his face: "Our money and food have been plundered by the tax collectors a long time ago. Where is there any extra money to give to the monsters? But what they want is not money and food. The so-called small rent is once a month and is sent by the ghosts.
Take away our yang energy and essence and give it to the tiger for enjoyment. The big rent is once every six months, and what is taken away...is a pair of boys and girls."
"Boys and girls?"
Qin Shaoyou remembered the two crying families he saw when he first arrived in the village.
Presumably it was these two families who had to sacrifice the boys and girls this time, so they were very sad.
When asked, it turned out that it was indeed the case. When Su Jianqing heard this, she said angrily: "The tiger sucks your yang energy and essence every month, and asks you to sacrifice a boy and a girl every six months. How can you tolerate it?"
"What else can we do if we can't bear it? We are just ordinary people, we can't fight against monsters."
"Then why don't you report it to the official?"
"Report to the official?"
The village chief smiled bitterly and told a piece of history.
It turned out that three years ago, when the tiger first appeared and caused trouble, they and several other villages in the mountain reported the matter to the county.
At that time, the county sent several night watchmen, and the leader was a small flag officer.
After these people arrived, they took turns squatting in several villages, but the tiger and its ghosts seemed to be aware of the arrival of these people and never showed up.
The night watchmen stayed in several villages in the mountains for more than half a month, but did not see the tiger or his men, so they withdrew.
As a result, on the second night after the night watchman withdrew, the tiger's ghost agents appeared and retaliated against several villages, killing many people.
After that, several villages were frightened and did not dare to report to the government again.
They were afraid that the government would come, but they would not be able to deal with the tiger, but would instead attract the tiger's revenge.
However, there was a village on the mountainside that was not willing to be threatened by demons and reported it to the police last year.
That time, we not only went to the night watch, but also mobilized an army stationed nearby to go into the mountains to search for monsters.
The result is still nothing.
Finally, when the army left, they looted the village and asked for hard work and departure fees.
"Many people in that village were unable to survive that winter..."
After the village chief finished telling the story of his past, he spread his hands helplessly.
"You say, with these tragic cases before our eyes, do we still dare to report to the official? If we don't report to the official, we will only lose a little Yang Qi and Jing Qi every month, and sacrifice a pair of boys and girls in half a year, but many people can barely do it.
If you are lucky, you will be retaliated by monsters, but if you are not lucky, you will be ruined and die even faster!"
When Qin Shaoyou heard this, all he thought in his mind was 'tyranny is as fierce as a tiger'.
But here, the harsh government is stronger than the demons.
The people here would rather be used as livestock food by demons and ghosts than report to the government.
Just because you report yourself to the police, the outcome will be even worse...
This is really ironic!
He did not ask these villagers why they did not escape.
Because he knew that the result of running away would be the same.
If you stay here, even though there are monsters and ghosts, you can still barely have a bite to eat.
But if you run away, you can only become a refugee or a bandit... No matter which one, you will die faster and more miserably.
Before Qin Shaoyou could speak, the village chief sighed again: "Actually, ghosts are scary, but they are nothing compared to the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that are increasing every year. As long as the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are still there, it will be the same whether there are monsters or not.
.”
Su Tingyu frowned and said: "How can this be the same? Demons and ghosts want to eat people. Don't you have to sacrifice a boy and a girl every six months?"
The village chief said quietly: "Actually, it's the same... even if there are no monsters, it would be difficult for these children to survive."
Su Tingyu was stunned and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
This time, the village chief did not answer Su Tingyu's question.
A flash of shame flashed across his face and he forcibly ended the topic.
"Anyway, you'd better leave while it's still dark. Otherwise, when the tiger's ghost comes, you will also be charged for rent."
After saying this, the village chief ignored them and turned around to leave.
Qin Shaoyou looked at the village chief's back, his face a little heavy, and turned to Su Tingyu and said: "He has no face to answer your question, but I can guess some reasons."
"what reason?"
"Do you remember that when we were on our way today, we passed by a river and saw wild dogs and crows eating the corpses of several babies in the river?"
"Remember, you asked Monk Ma to lead people to drive away the wild dogs and crows, and bury the bodies of the babies on the spot. At that time, some people in the team were sighing, saying that in the past two years, abandoned people everywhere
There are more and more babies being drowned. When I asked why, he said the reason was very simple, they just couldn’t afford to raise them..."
When Su Tingyu said this, she suddenly understood.
"This village also cannot afford to raise babies, but instead of abandoning and drowning the babies they cannot raise, they give them to monsters in exchange for a chance to live?"
Qin Shaoyou nodded: "That's why the village chief refuses to answer you, because no one who has done this kind of thing has the shame to mention it."
Su Tingyu fell into silence.
Su Jianqing squinted her eyes and said, "Actually, with their current physical condition, they won't live long. Their yang energy and essence have been almost drained by the tiger ghosts."
Qin Shaoyou sighed: "I'm afraid these villagers know it in their hearts, but they have no choice but to live one year at a time..."
Su Jianqing turned her head and looked at him: "Then shall we destroy this tiger and its ghosts and restore the health of the villagers in this mountain?"